The Ridesharing Revolution : Economic Survey and Synthesis

Digital ridesharing platforms, such as Uber and Lyft, are part of a broader suite of innovations that constitute what is sometimes referred to as the sharing economy. In this essay, we provide an overview of current research on the economic efficiency and equity characteristics of ridesharing platforms, and provide a research agenda that includes an examination of the natural evolution toward driverless cars. We have three main findings: first, relatively little is known about either the equity and efficiency properties of ridesharing platforms, but this is likely to change as companies and researchers focus on these issues. Second, we may be able to learn something about the likely diffusion and benefits of these technologies from experience with other policies and technologies. Third, while we believe these platforms will do substantially more good than harm, the measurement, distribution, and size of the gains from these technologies requires further research. * Robert Hahn is professor and director of economics at the Smith School at the University of Oxford, a non-resident senior fellow at Brookings, and a senior fellow at the Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy. Robert Metcalfe is Postdoctoral Research Scholar in Economics at the University of Chicago. We would like to thank Ted Gayer, Jonathan Hall, Scott Kominers, Jonathan Meer, Alex Teytelboym, Scott Wallsten, and Cliff Winston for helpful comments and Julia Schmitz, Brian Campbell and Samantha van Urk for excellent research assistance. The usual caveat applies. The Ridesharing Revolution: Economic Survey and Synthesis Robert Hahn and Robert Metcalfe